Jigsaw
by Mikiri's Revenge
Summary: Reid never joined the BAU, he couldn't. When the BAU are called out to LV on a case they discover help can come from the most surprising places. All pairings undecided, possible to change.
1. Introducing Pence

AN: New to Criminal Minds Fanfiction so don't kill me. Any help would be appreciated. Anyone reading any other of my fictions, they will be updated… eventually… once I can decided where they're going… Make the muses shut up!!!!

Summary: Spencer Reid never joined the BAU, he couldn't. Now he's become the next victim in a line of murders by an insane man. Can the BAU find him in time? But help always will come from the oddest of places, especially in Las Vegas.

------------Jigsaw--------------

------------------Introducing Spencer Reid--------------------------

------------Jigsaw--------------

Three boys sat on the steps to the police station in a heated debate, go in or stay out? Two of the boys wanted to go in, they had something to report and it was worth getting yelled at if someone would listen right? The other was resolutely against the whole idea, it was a gang matter and the police wouldn't listen anyway.

A policeman walked out and saw the trio and yelled at them to get lost. The one against the idea crossed his arms, his point proven. The other two were more reluctant but got up and started down the steps. The policeman smirked, in his opinion the kids were nothing but trouble.

"Pence, Kail, its for the best. Once the number is over 50 we'll try again, okay?" The odd one out said, trying to see it from their point of view.

"Dane. By the time it gets to that number it'll be too late. Out of 146 kids on the street over a third will be gone and we can't risk getting numbers that low. The higher ups will pick us up and we'll be separated if we aren't dead yet." The younger of two said for going in said. He was rather tall, extremely thin, with long, dirty, white-blonde hair and expressive green eyes, he was Kail, one of the assumed oldest kids in the gang Whysper to which the whole trio belonged.

"Please. Just a couple more days, I swear. If the disappearances haven't stopped we'll report it to the police, I swear. Scouts honor." the other boy, Dane, replied giving his friends a mock salute. The youngest and biggest joker of the trio, he was often underestimated, and he liked it that way. He was rather small for his age, only about 5"3' at the age of seventeen, but he used it to his advantage often getting out of trouble because he was overlooked. His physical appearance didn't help deter the 'I'm-completely-innocent-why-are-you-staring-at-me' feeling he gave off. Wide cobalt blue eyes and long dirty-blonde hair he often used the kicked puppy look to his advantage.

The oldest, and tallest, was Pence. He was rather quiet, with dark brown hair and amber-ish eyes, a tall lanky form and hunched shoulders from trying not to be so tall, or reading while walking again. When the trio first met he had liked to ramble and spout off random statistics, but after a few months on the streets, he stopped.

"A couple more days." Pence agreed, "if we aren't dead by then we'll make the police listen to us."

------------Jigsaw--------------

Elle Greenaway sat in front of the board sipping coffee while trying to find the connection between the victims in the kidnapping/murder case in Las Vegas. The victims had no obvious connection to either each other or the killer. It was an odd array of victims at the very least; two recently unemployed men, and nine men with PhD's in a wide assortment of fields, from math to psychology to literature to criminal justice. All of the Dr.'s had been killed in order of descending age. It made no sense, and the team couldn't give an entirely accurate profile until the connection between the victims was discovered.

"Find anything interesting, Elle?" Elle whipped her head around to stare at Gideon who had walked into the room.

"Nope. There is absolutely no connection between the victims and the killer, or between the victims." Elle said. "I had Garcia run some backgrounds but she hasn't gotten back to me yet--"

The phone rang.

It was Garcia as expected; Gideon answered the phone "Do you have anything Garcia?"

"Do fish live in water? Yes I got something and you are going to like it!" Garcia exclaimed, typing away on her computer.

"Well?" Gideon asked impatiently.

"All of the victims went to the restaurant Icarus Flight within the two weeks of being murdered." Garcia said, "That restaurant is amazing, best waiters in the country, got the award to prove it. Amazing food and its all up in a tower that has four dining levels and three private rentable levels, a bar level, and a kids level. The waiting list to get into this place is miles long, but they are amazingly able to give up free seats to walk-ins. Its amazing, I went there once and, oh my god it was so _good_!" she squealed a bit at the end.

"Thanks Garcia." Elle said amused, reaching over to end the call. Gideon looked thoughtful for a minute before he went to find Hotch to tell the rest of the team about the new lead.

------------Jigsaw--------------

"So," Hotch began, "we were given a lead about a high class restaurant called Icarus Flight. The unsub could possibly work there, see the victim, and stalk them home."

"Unlikely, all the employees are given extensive background checks before they're hired." JJ said pulling out a small file, "I went through the database to find out more about it. The only complaints that the place has ever been given was about an employee being rough with a drunk on the bar level and people being kicked out at an hour after sunrise."

"Can we scope the place out? See if we can find anything suspicious?" Morgan asked, "Maybe find out why the employee was rough with the drunk? As a bartender he must've been used to it."

"Yes, well, the counter argument was made that the drunk was… harassing the bartender and several of the other patrons, but nothing to extensive." JJ read out of the report. A knock sounded on the door, and Detective Irving, the lead detective on the case, stuck her head in.

"The hospital just called in. Two employees from Icarus Flight were just admitted, their injuries match the unsub's M.O."

------------Jigsaw--------------

AN: Being mean. Left it there. Preintiss is on the team during this time, because Reid never joined so there was an empty slot that she took. It may be easy to guess who the victims are!


	2. Panic!

Chapter 2! More Dane, and a few others.

------------Jigsaw--------------

----------- Unhelpful Help---------------------------

------------Jigsaw--------------

Hotch started dividing assignments up. "Gideon, Prentiss, JJ, you go to the hospital and try to interview the victims. Morgan, Elle and I will go to Icarus Flight and talk to the manager. Det. Irving? Can I trust you to call us if you get any new info?"

"Yes sir." Irving turned to leave. Everyone froze when they heard the sound of a bell ringing violently.

"What's that?" Irving looked at JJ amused.

"That is the bell system. It was originally designed to discourage some of the local thieves. Now it's used as a test, get in and out without ringing a bell and you win. All the locals know about it which means that it's either a newbie or someone's pissed off." Irving explained. He walked into the hallway ignoring the various bells that signaled the progression of the unknown person.

They came face to face with a rather dirty teen about 5'3" with dirty blonde hair and cobalt eyes. Det. Irving halted and stared at the boy with raised eyebrows.

"Where are they?" The question was asked violently, abruptly, desperately; as if he was scared or afraid of the answer.

"Where are who? We only have Iona in any of the cells." The answer was calm and collected. It was also obviously not the answer the boy wanted.

"What do you mean they aren't here? He couldn't have gotten them!" The question was desperate, pleading, actively looking for a better answer.

"Why are only you here? I would have thought your more thoughtful halves would be with you. Unless they are who you are looking for?" Hotch observed the desperate, nervous tick the boy had; the continuous rotation of a purple bracelet. Whatever the significance of the color it was connected to the people he was looking for.

"They were coming back from the one job that I don't have with them today and then this happened." The boy held up the bracelet he had been fiddling with. It was one of many, and a great number of the bracelets were orange. Irving seemed to know the significance of the colors; he raised an eyebrow at the boy.

"Just because they aren't actively playing with their bracelets is no cause for alarm you know." The boy rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Purple, in case you've forgotten, means that they are not moving and have not been for at least two hours. That means they've been missing for over two freakin' hours! I also found their coms on their route home. One had the S.O.S beacon on when I got there, but the jammer I found near by kept it from actually broadcasting to anyone. Now do you think it's still a prank?" The boy's contemptuous comment at the end spoke a volume of things to the profiling team. The boy had been slighted by the police before, he did not trust them to help anymore; He had also been accused of something and framed. It was written in how he spoke, and how he held himself.

"Can whatever transmitters are in those bracelets be tracked by an outside source?" Morgan asked, a tentative idea forming in his mind.

"Possibly. Not likely." The boy ran a hand through his hair and held on to it near the back of his neck. "Probably not. Maybe. Depends on if it was Pence or Kail who wrote the program. Or both. I dunno. It's Greek to me. And I can read Greek!" He ran his hands through his hair in several quick agitated motions. He fiddled with his bracelet some more.

Morgan took out his cell, pushing the speed dial for Garcia on his phone. "Goddess Athena of the Wisdom of Quantico, speak mortal and you shall be recognized!"

Morgan chuckled, ignoring the boy's indignant look "Baby girl, I need you to hack a tracking signal on a bunch of homemade tracking bracelets. A pair of kids went missing over here."

"Awww… And here I thought it would be something challenging. Gimme a sec. Whoa." Garcia stopped typing for a second before continuing more rapidly then before. "This program is immensely complex. It could take me hours, my chocolate god, to get anywhere with this thing. Who wrote it? I want to meet them."

"One of the missing kids. We think they may be connected to the case. Could you look them up for me? Their names are…" He looked at the boy for help, extending the phone towards him.

"Pence, or Will Reed, and Kail, or L'Arc Reed. M'name is Dane, or Zai Reed in case you feel like looking me up." The boy said distractedly giving out their gang names and work names.

Morgan held the phone up to his ear again. "Did you get that baby girl?" Garcia made an affirmative noise on the other end, accompanied by more typing.

"I'll call you back when I get more results. This may take a while." Garcia reached over and slapped the phone receiver down.

Emily walked over to the distressed teen and lead him to a chair; he followed without question, staring into space and fiddling with the bracelet, his mouth continuously moving. He suddenly sat up right before the team left the room again.

"The killer, your killer. He's been leaving notes right? And they all start with the words 'Hey Doc,' right? So he knows about them. If he took him not the other one. 'N he can get around, fast and unseen. Not odd at all, blen's right in, right? Invisible Death, that's what we call 'im on the streets…" The boy's eyes had shifted to the cork board with the profile pieces put up. His proper English had deteriorated into the rough cant of street talk rather rapidly.

"Yes that's right. Except that we never found any notes." Hotch said turning to look at the boy.

"Hm. Odd. Well, anydays, He's obvious a nate. Pro'lly lif'ed on the streets. 's lookin' for sum'un specific. 's downright nasty ain't he? Hurt'n all 'em people. He pro'lly forced 'em all. He ain't right in the head. Can't be." Dane said as he stared blankly at the board. "He knows code. He's usin' the old variation. 'ts the signs he's been makin' on their hands. It's the trinity symbol. He 's been tryin' to contac' us. Why ain't none of you never notice?" He pointed to all the pictures of the victim's hands. The police had noticed but hadn't connected it to the street codes.

Morgan looked impressed "You got all that from the board?" The rest of the team looked equally surprised, it had taken them almost a week to get that much information.

Dane snorted. "Nah. We knew most a that afore I came 'ere. No one notices a street rat eh?" His English was improving again. He was distracted by the bracelet again. One side had turned blue again, then started flashing in what the team knew was Morse code. SOS, over and over again.

"Why is it repeating like that?" Elle asked.

"He's testing something. I dunno what. Ma'b the phsycho is im'ersinatin me. Impersonating. S'rry. Sorry. Still workin' on the proper English idea." Dane said often repeating a word he messed up. "It's weird. It's like I've seen this before somewhere. It's familiar. Real familiar. Couldn't tell ya why." He trailed off looking contemplative. It was something important he was sure.

------------Jigsaw--------------

Pence had woken up from his drugged slumber handcuffed to a car door. He glanced to his left and saw Kail still knocked out and also handcuffed to the other door. A quick glance forward showed someone who looked similar to Dane driving. In fact is not for the clothing he wore, he would of thought it was Dane. Identical twins. Dane had a twin Kuja who had died in captivity when they were held for ransom. What if he hadn't died, could this be Kuja? He grabbed his bracelet, either way this definitely was a good time to send out an SOS. He watched the bracelet of the person he believed was Kuja, it didn't flash. It wasn't Dane. Dane hadn't betrayed them. Pence let go after a minute and drifted into an uneasy slumber as the car continued down the highway.

------------Jigsaw--------------

Pence had hooked a ride with Morgan, Elle, and Hotch to Icarus Flight. There were police cars everywhere, Downtown cops instead of the North Vegas cops they frequently dealed with. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. As he stepped out of the SUV he heard someone cry "That's him! He's the one who took my son! I saw him I swear! He'll kill them! He's done it before and he'll do it again!"

Dane froze. Mrs. Reid, Diana Reid. Pence's mom. How had she gotten out of the sanatorium? She knew his past, she could tell them what he was. With all the police staring at him, guns starting to be pointed at him, he backed up and ran. He lost all persuers in the back streets. It was that day the FBI learned you never chased a street rat in his home territory. You'd never, ever find him until he chose to reveal himself.

------------Jigsaw--------------

Sorry it took so long. To many ideas. The bracelets are not actually made I think. But I'll put up a color guide next chapter. A bit more about Dane and Kail will be exposed. Still need a beta eternally. Flames will be cherished and loved. As will all other comments. =)!


	3. Cracking Codes

AN: Pence is Spencer. I love being Astro-maniac. And Pyromaniac. And if you ever thought I owned Criminal Minds I'd be flattered but would laugh in your face. OMG 428 hits on the last chapter in less then 24 hours. Eeek.

-Jigsaw-

-Illegal is Always Faster-

-Jigsaw-

Morgan and Elle tore after Dane as he made his way through various alleys and backstreets, over fences, up a fire escape, across the roof, across a board serving as a bridge 7 stories up, down another fire escape, through more alleys, over more fences, and down more backstreets before they finally lost him. Elle staggered to a stop and doubled over as Morgan leant against the wall, both were breathing heavily. "Did you keep track of how we got here?" Elle panted, looking around at the unfamiliar area.

"I thought you were. I only remember going over the roof." Morgan replied breathlessly.

"Damnit. Now how are we gonna get back?" Elle gasped out.

"That won't be a problem. You shall be escorted off our grounds and are reminded to stay off. We don't like your kind here." Came the rather dark reply from above them. "Aeris, Leon, Reno, Cloud. Get them out of here. And don't get lost!" Four shadows detached themselves from the walls and came up surrounding Elle and Morgan.

"Yes Angeal!" The four chorused, the blonde one put on a small devise on his collar then tucked it deep into his shirt. Morgan was able to see a blinking red light on it before it was hidden by the material.

Elle paused slightly confused by the kids' names "I thought that those were a characters in some kind of game?"

"They are. We named ourselves mostly by appearance. The names fit yo." The four burst out laughing at what was obviously some kind of inside joke. They led Morgan and Elle through a different set of alleys and back streets before reaching one of the main streets. The red head who had spoken earlier stopped in the mouth of the alley to the main road. "This is as far as we go, yo. Don't come back, Whysper ain't meant to be messed with." And the four vanished back into the darkening alley.

Morgan took out his phone and called Garcia "Baby girl, I need everything you have on Dane, Zai Reed, whatever his name is. He vanished after an incident with a woman outside Icarus Flight."

-Jigsaw-

It was about an hour later when Garcia called back. Morgan and Elle had made their way back to Icarus Flight and we waiting with the team as they went through what little evidence they had. Morgan picked up his cell as soon as it started ringing.

"What's up baby girl?"

Garcia hesitated, "You might want to put this on speaker phone." Morgan shrugged but did so as the others crowded around. "So I looked up the kids names right? And I got a bunch of dead ends at first. All three have criminal records all for theft and shoplifting. I was able to connect Pence, or Will Reed to a Spencer Reid. He's a genius apparently, and get this, tried out for the FBI predestined to the BAU, but was kicked out for undisclosed reasons."

Hotch cleared his throat, "That sounds suspicious. Anything else Garcia?"

"Well, yes. Dane, the boy who was with you, is actually part of the Witness Protection Program. He _was _Zaidane Maren, one of a pair of twin sons of Alek Maren."

"The politician from California, right? Had his kids kidnapped and held for ransom a while ago." Emily said.

"Yeah that one. He was the one who survived captivity. The last kid I only found traces of in the foster system up until about seven years ago when the Romino family adopted him. He showed up again about two years ago when he earned a PhD at the age of 17."

This time it was Morgan who broke in. "The Romino family is well known in certain circles for human trafficking. Who would let any kid live with them?"

"Apparently the foster system was that desperate for a family for him. He found his on the streets though, it seems. On a brighter note I was able to hack into the tracking bracelets they invented. A large group is in a warehouse at the northern edge of the city, another group is in an abandoned apartment complex still in Northern Vegas, and there is a pair being driven by one that barely shows up on the way out of town to the south. I think that's the pair you're looking for. The largest concentration is a couple blocks away near the construction site." Garcia finished happily leaning back in her chair back at Quantico.

"Thanks Baby Girl." Morgan said before he hung up. "So now what are we gonna do?"

-Jigsaw-

AN: No, I have not forgotten the people in the hospital! I will get there next chapter. Sorry, muses come and go like the wind. To anyone else reading my stories, a bunch of updates expected soon!


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